Mumbai, where the design pulse remains ever-engaging and unmissable. Now, with the rise of Indian craft flourishing as a new form of luxury, the city’s design landscape is emerging more than ever. Thus, encouraging spaces that cultivate and discover Indian craftsmanship and culture extensively.

Right in the heart of Mumbai, the once-industrial mill district now sets up home for Nilaya Anthology. Asian Paints has now, for many years, unabatedly led the forefront of design. The brand’s roots are anchored deep down in Indian craftsmanship and culture. To revolutionise the overall design retail experience, this year the brand inaugurated Nilaya Anthology, a 100,000-square-foot experiential design store located in the heart of Mumbai’s mill district. The anthological set-up assembles a distinctive curation of home decor, furnishings, collectible crafts, and design. 

Nilaya Anthology—a long-time vision of Asian Paints—gathers all objects at the intersection of craft, culture, art, and design from both local and global platforms. More than just an experiential centre, the setup serves as a pit stop to pause and observe the pace at which Indian craft is emerging, constantly soaring to new heights. The paradigm shift of Indian craft becoming the “new luxury” is no news. The concept has floated at the surface all along. Albeit non-linearly, the graph of Indian craft, arising as a constant element in luxury, is one of the most vital indicators of a surge in the nation’s design landscape. With spaces like this, which redefine and reunite iconic local and international brands, artistry, and craftsmanship, Indian craft serves as a catalytic game-changer in the country’s design topography, marking a monumental movement in collectible design and storytelling. 

One defines luxury as an elementary state of great abundance or ease, but luxury also calls upon the greater task of distinction. The art of true luxury relies heavily on the distinction between the ordinary and the extraordinary, capturing the subtle nuances of perfection and detail. Here at Nilaya Anthology, the art of luxury flows intrinsically. In distinctive ways, every segment curated here, whether it be collaborative ventures, The Orangery, The Sanctum, immersive experiences, or otherwise, luxury becomes an undeterred variable at this anthological design setup. However, at its core, the spotlight on collectible craftsmanship stays put.

Pavitra Rajaram, the creative director of this venture, who is passionately devoted to India’s art and design legacy, explains how this curatorial approach is “where India’s rich heritage of craft meets the finest contemporary design from around the world, offering an immersive experience that is both deeply personal and globally relevant.” 

At the magnanimous set-up, Rajaram’s intangible storytelling becomes evident as she refuses to adhere to the spatially restrictive boundaries of design. By dedicating vast spaces to detailing, she keenly explores the design narrative through material and immaterial crafts, diverse traditions, and an ever-engaging confluence of cultures worldwide. One might even say that her striking design approach to this space hints at the concept of Design Syncretism—borrowing, developing, and integrating hybrid influences from varied cultural references, resulting in an outcome that is both innovative and immersive. The space designed by acclaimed architect Rooshad Shroff, Nilaya Anthology, emerges as more than just a design set-up; it becomes a meeting point for cultural and intellectual intersections. 

While we digress from Design Syncretism for a moment, at Nilaya Anthology, we pause to consider how the amalgamation of various experiences prompts one to reassess the trajectory of Indian craft in today’s global scenario. Here’s what one can expect at this experiential set-up.

AT NILAYA ANTHOLOGY: WHAT TO EXPECT

International Collaborations & Showcases

For the first time in India, Nina Yashar’s curation has found a curatorial destination. The exclusive launch of ‘Nilufar’, a renowned name in the collectible design landscape, offers design aficionados and craft connoisseurs a unique experience. 

Reinforcing the dialogue between Indian craft and global design, the space hosts a curated roster of international icons, including House of Finn Juhl and Cassina, Ginori 1735, Zafferano, Delcourt Collection, and Living Divani. Their presence signals India’s evolving status as a destination for collectible design that transcends borders.

Highlighting Indian Collectible Craft: The Spaces of Discovery

The Spaces of Discovery, at Nilaya Anthology, are quite the retreat for a designer’s eye. Spaces like The Cellar, The Candle Library, The Reading Room and many more feature a range of antiques, ceramics, pottery, and candles, where visitors embark on a carefully curated journey. Here, many home-grown and global brands both, form an immersive display.

Sabyasachi For Nilaya

Some note that the Sabyasachi collective at Nilaya Anthology may be an extension of the designer’s roots in Kolkata—a maximalist palette plunged in dark crimsons and golds, collectible antiquities steeped in the native history, that shapes the maestro’s finesse back home. The exhibition leans on the designer’s iconic take on ‘home’ and the art of living. The first floor features works by Atish Mukherjee, presenting the first-ever public showcase by the Sabyasachi Art Foundation. While on the second floor, various Nilaya furnishings take a step into Sabya’s world, which one can argue offers a peek into his own home. 

The artist-cum-designer’s reinterpretation of the Bengal School of Art brings a new perspective to the Indian craft story, making this showcase a striking moment in the country’s art and design landscape. With the surge of Sabyasachi’s acclaim on an international scale, whether this newfound inauguration at Nilaya Anthology, or his custom couture for Shah Rukh Khan’s debut at the MET 2025, this collaborative venture also marks how Indian craftsmanship is emerging as the new luxury, not just in the country, but on global platforms too.

Cultural Experiences, Collectibles, and much more.

Showcasing stellar collectible design, the Vikram Goyal Studio at Nilaya Anthology emphasises the studio’s signature craft techniques. Some of the works on display here are The Silken Passage, The Thar Console, The Shaded Graphite Cabinet and more, reimagining collectable craft through brass. In this segment, US-based artist Priya Kambli makes her debut at Nilaya Anthology with a show featuring various collections of her artworks.

Under one roof, Nilaya Anthology gathers a vast variety of products from some of the finest Indian and international brands, spanning from bathware to antiques.

HOW INDIAN CRAFT PROMPTS DESIGN SYNCRETISM

Indian craft, over the years, has managed to escape the ordinary, spreading its branches globally, now more than ever. With Indian craft going global, cultural influences from various sources inspire the diverse spectrum of collectible crafts. Through Nilaya Anthology, we have witnessed how Indian craft is elevating luxury to new levels, prompting us all to observe how this shift is encouraging the new age of Design Syncretism in the country. 

The overarching theme for India Design ID 2025-26, The Age of Design Syncretism, celebrates the confluence of diverse aesthetic traditions, cultural influences, and material languages—an epoch where global influences collide and coalesce, generating hybrid forms that challenge the purity of tradition, the rigidity of classification and thrive on hybridity, revival, and reinvention. As India Design ID returns for a second edition in Mumbai, stay tuned to experience some of the finest Indian and international brands take centre stage through Design Syncretism.